'It’s not just a piece of paper': B.C. transgender girl, 11, sets the records straight with new birth certificate

Harriette Cunningham of Comox says she’s not finished fighting for gender-variant people

Harriette Cunningham proudly displays her new birth certificate.

Photograph by: Sandy Aitken
, Submitted

A young Comox girl is among the first 30 British Columbians to re-designate their gender on their birth certificates after new legislation was passed earlier this year allowing the change — but her mission’s not over yet.

Harriette Cunningham, 11, was born a boy named Declan, but it wasn’t long before she began to understand something wasn’t right about the body she was born into.

“She would rebel from getting her hair cut at a young age, and she would gravitate toward things our society would identify as really feminine,” said dad Colin Cunningham.

“It was a journey of self-awareness, and at eight or nine she started to figure out where she was headed. She was already there and it was us that had to catch up really quickly.”

From there, Cunningham said, it was a crash course of sorts for their family in LGBTQ and gender-identity issues, but at the end of the day, it was about standing by their child.

“As early as kids can figure out who they are, she was pretty steadfast in her identity, and she’s really shown us the way through this,” Cunningham said of his daughter’s path to understanding herself. “She’s taught us a huge deal about life in general and ... she’s taught us what it means to be true to yourself.

“We weren’t prepared for how strong and sure of herself she really is, so that’s been a lesson to us, too.”

These days, Declan is known as Harriette, after filing paperwork last year to officially change her name. With the support of her family, and especially her grandmother Cathie Dickson, Harriette also embarked on a letter-writing campaign to various levels of government, pushing for legislation that would allow her to change the gender designation on her birth documents.

In May, the provincial government finally passed Bill 17, which allows individuals to re-designate their gender on their birth certificates without having to undergo gender re-assignment surgery first.

And just last week, Harriette received a new birth certificate that lists her gender as female.

“I’m really happy. It matters to me to have me properly represented,” she told The Province. “It’s not just a piece of paper.”

With her new birth certificate in hand, Harriette and her parents have already begun the process of applying for a new passport to match, in advance of travelling to Seattle next month for Gender Odyssey, a conference that examines matters relating to the transgender community.

While her parents, in the past, have been able to explain why Harriette’s paperwork doesn’t match her physical representation, Harriette cited one experience where a security guard had to ask a manager to double check her passport, drawing the attention of other travellers and leaving Harriette close to tears.

“When they (security guards) saw my old passport, they would ask, ‘Well, where’s this person?’ I would get worried and anxious because I don’t think I should have to go through that,” Harriette said. “Some people — they don’t get it. It definitely would’ve been a lot easier if there had been no gender on my birth certificate.”

Though Harriette now has an accurate birth certificate — and soon will have a new passport — she’s still fighting to improve the situation for other gender-variant persons.

“I’m definitely not finished,” she said.

In October, the Cunningham family — along with lawyer barbara findlay, who spells her name without capitals — will attend a human-rights tribunal where Harriette will advocate for gender designation to be removed from birth certificates.

“What I’m fighting for, ultimately, is to take gender markings off the passports and birth certificates. So when a child is born, they won’t label it,” Harriette explained.

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